We lose, all of a sudden Tomlin's composure becomes disinterest, and we're no better than 9-7 and a first round, wild-card exit.

Doesn't make any sense to me at all.

Sorry- I thought this was a board where people liked talking about the intricate details of this team, and enjoyed debating things like that.

.WiH.

Logged

I don't care if Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy are black. Good for them. But that doesn't change the way I feel about them. The longer we keep looking at guys like Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith as "BLACK HEAD COACHES" as opposed to just "coaches" the longer race will continue to be a problem. --DoctorJohnnyFever

there's nothing wrong with the topic and i don't think that is what penso is reffering to..

it seemed to me that he was more reffering to the suicidal type talk that went on within the topic..

hell, i thought this thread was a damn good read aside from a few non-analytical-we-suck-posts..

and our o-line does suck.. 2 or 3 of those sacks, maybe more, came when they were only rushing 3 or 4 guys.. and we had a TE in blocking..

and the draw play in crunch time was killing me as well.. Ben has what it takes to make a smart play there and without that first down they were gonna have decent to great field position anyhow, so you might as well risk the pick and throw..

With NE and Jax (we should beat them but this game will be bloody) left this team had better win the rest of the games that they are supposed to win, b/c the Browns won't lose many more.. even tho i would not be suprised if they lose the next two, vs. Hou and @ Az..

Logged

"i don't know Nutting about baseball.. but i know about Nutting over making some cash.." Ownership ROCKS!!!

Personally, I've been a bit disappointed by the massive mood swings on this board. We win, Freeney gets hurt, all of a sudden we start game planning for the Colts at home in January. We lose, all of a sudden Tomlin's composure becomes disinterest, and we're no better than 9-7 and a first round, wild-card exit.

Doesn't make any sense to me at all.

Makes as much sense as losing to the Jets.

We could still host the Colts, but we'd have had a better chance winning the games we're supposed to win.

I don't believe we'll finish 9-7, and think we can still reach the AFCC, but that's what I thought when I was more confident of a #2 seed. Beating the Pats still remains a daunting task, Jets loss or no.

I will say that I've been very even keel in watching the games, win or lose. In a sense, this seems like a freebie year: Tomlin's first year as HC, coming off the 8-8 disappointment, I just figure anything good we do is icing. Next year, expectations will be a little higher.

Still, doesn't it make some basic sense that people will be dejected after a heinous loss? I mean, it's understandable. We're constantly revising expectations. The more interesting question is, would we have revised our expectations as drastically had we won in OT?

From the mouth of the babe: Mrs. Finny said, after the Jets loss, that we've just looked terrible in beating the Browns and losing to the Jets. "A new kind of fugly" was her exact phrase, I believe. That seems about right. We're playing fugly, but with some nifty highlights along the way -- an individual performance from Ben or Silverback, or a good stomping of the Ratties. We gotsta get rid of the fugly. Too damn much fugly.

I will say that I've been very even keel in watching the games, win or lose. In a sense, this seems like a freebie year: Tomlin's first year as HC, coming off the 8-8 disappointment, I just figure anything good we do is icing. Next year, expectations will be a little higher.

That's basically the way I feel about it. This is bonus year.

Bonus that it looks like Ben's back - and maybe better than ever. Or at least heading in that direction.

Bonus in James Harrison - who'da thunk it?

Bonus in that has anybody else noticed that Nate has actually been where he's supposed to be and CAUGHT the ball a few times lately?

Bonus in the fact that we're leading the division, and did we really think we would be at this point?

Yeah, I was pissed after losing to the Jets. AZ didn't bother me as much, Broncs either. Losing to the Jets did. I didn't sleep for 2 days. I almost quit drinkin'...(OK, not really...)

But I'm not gonna question Tomlin's fire and intensity, cause I'm bettin' he's got plenty, and that those guys on the field know it.

I am, however, gonna start figuring out who we need to friggin' draft to shore up that swiss cheese O-line!! Fercrissake....

I'd be in agreement about this being a "free season," if it were not for my absolute hatred ot the Cheatriots, and my overwhelming desire to see some team, ANY TEAM stop the evil.

I had clung to hopes that our team might match up well, but recent evidence disputes that analysis.

Other than that, we are a good draft (and maybe a key FA aquisition) away from being the class of the NFL.

Logged

"Dreith said I hit Sipe too hard. I hit him as hard as I could. Brian has a chance to go out of bounds and he decides not to. He knows I'm going to hit him. And I do. History."- - - Jack Lambert, after referee Ben Dreith ejected him from a game for knocking out Browns QB Brian Sipe.

Do you guys really think a head coach makes that much of a difference that many of you were willing to write this year off simply because it's Tomlin's first year?

I know that an NFL head coach has a much, much bigger influence on the game than the manager of an MLB club, but don't you think it's still primarily about the talent you have on the roster?

Or are today's NFL teams so dependent upon game plan/schemes that a coach really can make/break a team, regardless of talent?

.WiH.

Logged

I don't care if Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy are black. Good for them. But that doesn't change the way I feel about them. The longer we keep looking at guys like Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith as "BLACK HEAD COACHES" as opposed to just "coaches" the longer race will continue to be a problem. --DoctorJohnnyFever

Obviously talent is of great importance, but I think the NFL is a league where a bad head coach can wreck a season, while a good head coach can get more out of a team that may not have as much talent as the other guys. I think Norv Turner is a great example of this.

Logged

"The MGS board is regarded here as a board with adult rated content. There are virtually no rules. There are no words that are inappropriate and no subject that cannot be discussed. Should you feel the need to get crazy, do it there. You will be welcomed with open arms."

Do you guys really think a head coach makes that much of a difference that many of you were willing to write this year off simply because it's Tomlin's first year?

I know that an NFL head coach has a much, much bigger influence on the game than the manager of an MLB club, but don't you think it's still primarily about the talent you have on the roster?

Or are today's NFL teams so dependent upon game plan/schemes that a coach really can make/break a team, regardless of talent?

.WiH.

No, dude, not write off. Just not expect to win the division, much less the Super Bowl. I just expected growing pains. I expected Faneca to be more of a problem.

To me, and I'm just a chick, so maybe I'm overestimating this, it can't be easy to walk in and try to take over an entirely different scheme, even when you do have some of the same personnel. So to expect Tomlin to walk in and lead the team to the Super Bowl, or even the AFCC seemed a big task.

I have to say, I'm very pleased with the season, as a whole, so far. Not so much the AZ,DEN & NYJ games, but....